Love this article, but I wonder if the characterization of the right’s revolution as lacking ideas – and that their motivation is nothing more than the “will-to-power,” based on “boredom and nihilism” – is seriously misguided.
MAGA does have one powerful undergirding counter-idea (for what is more aptly called their COUNTERREVOLUTION.) Their counter-idea is, to paraphrase Orwell, that “All people are created equal but White Males are more equal than others.” (Ask yourselves why white male billionaires are flocking to MAGA even though the Biden stock market has hit all-time highs. It seems that the idea of White Male Privilege reigning supreme is even more powerful than making millions/billions for these white men.)
But our ideas on the Progressive Left are stronger. America birthed a radical revolution based on the novel ideas that all people are created equal, and that Rule of Law should be the law of the land. NO ONE SHOULD BE ABOVE THE LAW. These ideas were premised on the Enlightenment principle that there was no such thing as the Divine Right of Kings. But as I write, the Supreme Court MAGA Majority is poised to reinstate the Divine Right of Kings to the presidency. The unspoken, unacknowledged fact, perhaps unable to be seen by the Left’s white males, is that going forward, the King/president will always be male, and he will always be white.
White male supremacy. One mega-MAGA idea to rule them all. It undergirds The MAGA counter-revolution’s Project 25 which is chockful of counterclockwise ideas. They want nothing less than to throw the rest of us back into a pre-1776, pre-Enlightenment state of poverty and servitude with no rights whatsoever. Authoritarianism writ large.
To prevail this time around, we must overcome the gaslighting being done by the narcissistic, powerful, wealthy white men in the Republican party. But even more than that, we must overcome our own reticence to accept the fact that racism is the biggest, on-going threat to the sacred idea that we are all created equal and that no one is above the law.
This means that we must have the courage to see and acknowledge MAGA’s mega-IDEA – that of reinstating white male supremacy – for the true threat that it is to the American, Democratic way of life. #VoteBlue #VoteBidenHarris
The political exhaustion is not only fed by the endless news cycle of prevarication (not to mention idiocy) but by general exhaustion of the inanities of life that seem worse post-pandemic. The inability to talk to a real human being when calling the bank, cable or credit card company. The CVS that tells you that your drug is out of stock. The two hour wait at Urgent Care. Waiting for the bus that never comes. I think that the misguided perceptions about the economy are related to these frustrations, as inchoate as they may be. Polls don't capture the depth exasperation with late capitalism's corporate overlords maximization of profits through menu choices and password changes. These are first world spoiled people problems, I get it. But we expect things to work and too often it is a battle not of our making. Exhaustion also comes from lack of control and feeling that you can't make a difference. Writing 20 letters are weak to swing state voters seems meaningless somedays, just as battling the insurance company seems futile. I appreciate the opportunity for a kind of therapy with the Bulwark.
Yes, I am exhausted by our social and political nonsense right now. I've taken to snarky cross-stitch to fill the time that I used to spend trudging through the quicksand of current news. In two weeks, I will go off-grid in Wyoming for a week. I hope that helps because I must get my head back into the game. There is too much at stake for ennui.
👋 hey! I just had a take too dark for JVL! (Sorry for the non sequitur)
People think it would be bad if Merrick Garland tells Jack Smith to stand down on his cases due to the election. But Imagine by some miracle Merrick Garland actually lets Jack Smith take the Jan 6th case to trial during the fall. And it takes Trump off the campaign trail for a month plus!!! What happens when Trump is out of the public eye? His polls go up. What if the verdict gets handed down the week after the election, is guilty, but he won it fair and square because all people saw that last month was Biden on the stump doing normal things!
I don't think it would necessarily play out that way. Sure, Trump would be in a courtroom, but he would still be in the public eye. Every detail of the case will be front page news, all day, every day, and whenever Trump did get out on the campaign trail he'd be releasing tons of pent up rage and craziness. Moreover, with that kind of news cycle everyone in politics and media is going to be re-litigating the details of 1/6, forcing Republicans to defend him and allowing Democrats to spotlight the worst thing Trump has ever done. If, by some miracle, we actually have this trial take place before the election, I think it would be a really heavy hit for Trump.
It's We the People with Joe Biden as our current avatar - kind, smart, good, imperfect - vs Dictator Trump - Kim Jung Un boyfriend, Putin slave boy, idiot planning to take down our country and essentially rule us like Sauron - how is this a difficult choice? Americans have never needed a strongman - we rule ourselves, not always wisely but at least we are a force together. His cult members are lost but do republicans think he will let them have any independent ideas at all? Ask Bob Good, just the latest of the fools... not the first and certainly not the last.
I'm exhausted. And disgusted with the side that should be protecting us and isn't. I'm disgusted with Merrick Garland. I'm disgusted with weak ass Senate Democrats who do nothing. I'm disgusted with the court system. I'm disgusted with judges that are corrupt. I'm disgusted with Americans who are ignorant and stupid and uninterested in learning. I'm disgusted with the mainstream media who doesn't seem to understand the situation we are in. It's dark out there, and I am not optimistic.
You just nailed it. Thank you for clarifying the “glorious revolution” that is making so many of us literally sick and tired. But the plus side of this folly has been a reawakening of the democratic impulse of millions of Americans. For a healthy democracy to function well, it requires an engaged citizenry. I am working with some great grassroots groups. Like dandelions , they are bright, colorful and everywhere. Unlike the folks you mentioned, these folks take risks, suffer consequences, and get up every morning and do it again. It is exhausting, exhilarating, and just about as far from nihilistic as you’re ever going to get. Seeking joy, patriotism and passion? Join a pro-democracy grassroots campaign.
I'm part of a group that has been canvassing, phone banking, and writing post cards for Democratic campaigns for the last 7 years. I second this comment and I LOVE "Like dandelions, they are bright, colorful, and everywhere."
Try it--activism is not only the antidote to despair, it can also be fun.
You are exactly right and I got that analogy from a wonderful trio of books by pro-democracy peace activist and author, Rivera Sun who wrote The Dandelion Insurrection. These are wonderful books of speculative fiction that seem closer to reality every day. The motto for The Dandelion Insurrection is "Be kind, Be connected, Be unafraid. I just finished a six-week Zoom class with Rivera Sun through the Pace Bene organization entitled "People, Power, & Peace." There are some great case studies out there of people actually stopping wars or starting them from happening in the first place. Sadly, like so many of the grassroots movements today, none of these got much traction in the regular press.
"Unlike normal revolutionaries, the Trumpist revolutionaries risk nothing. If their gambit succeeds, then they overturn the Constitutional order. And if it fails? They go back to their boats, and trucks, and good-paying jobs, and iPhones."
Your article of a few months ago gave me a "eureka moment." You noted how people choose dictators in times of either decadence and desperation, and that this is an example of the former. But using my analogy of drug addiction (& I think it's more than a mere analogy), for hard-core MAGA voters it's both. The more you have, the more you crave. Most don't own $75,000 trucks, and even many who do have "yuge" loans (car, house, college, etc.) and expenses (to support their decadent lifestyle). They have convinced themselves that the "radical left" will be taking their jobs and guns, raising their taxes, etc. Their desperation is real, even if it is all in their paranoid minds. Most may be risking little or nothing if their celebrity idol loses - and in fact most would be better off in the long run - but they BELIEVE they risk losing it all, and that's what counts.
"By 'exhausted,' I don’t mean sick and tired. Or bored. Or annoyed. I mean the kind of weariness that sits down deep, in your bones, because you’re carrying a burden that you long to lay down."
Not me, baby! I'm more fired up than in my half century of voting. Here's the irony: if you weighed all the issues equally, I'd be voting mostly red - though not for Trump; he lost my vote long before I knew here he stood on any issue. But one issue outweighs all the others combined, and ought to for every voter: keeping the Republic (per Franklin's warning). Those who think we're overreacting - I would have just a few years ago - are not paying attention. I read enough from the MAGA propaganda "bubble" and can vouch that they're no longer even trying to pretend that their goal is anything less than destroying the Republic. For all their whining about the "liberal media" they're really saying the same thing, differing only in "spin." So it'll be straight blue in '24. Then, maybe, in '28 I'll be free to vote red again. Though never for anyone who has enabled or protected Trump.
I'm seriously glad someone is. I need a mental break. We are not rerunning one race. We are rerunning two. This all started almost 10 years ago and I'm tired.
On a bad day I think the US was mortally wounded in the '16 GOP primary (I voted for Kasich). But if I give up the determination to stop the MAGA cult, I'd be giving them just what they want. Oh, most of them would eventually regret it, but too late.
"For you to win, you must always be correct. You must never falter. Never fail. Never slip. Never stumble. Me? I only need to be right once. This is why you lose."
^ pretty good quote explaining why this is so draining. Despite that, it's not why we will lose - but take care of yourself friends. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Had not thought to this: the softest revolutionaries ever: cosplay revolution but return to their cloistered worlds.
Love this article, but I wonder if the characterization of the right’s revolution as lacking ideas – and that their motivation is nothing more than the “will-to-power,” based on “boredom and nihilism” – is seriously misguided.
MAGA does have one powerful undergirding counter-idea (for what is more aptly called their COUNTERREVOLUTION.) Their counter-idea is, to paraphrase Orwell, that “All people are created equal but White Males are more equal than others.” (Ask yourselves why white male billionaires are flocking to MAGA even though the Biden stock market has hit all-time highs. It seems that the idea of White Male Privilege reigning supreme is even more powerful than making millions/billions for these white men.)
But our ideas on the Progressive Left are stronger. America birthed a radical revolution based on the novel ideas that all people are created equal, and that Rule of Law should be the law of the land. NO ONE SHOULD BE ABOVE THE LAW. These ideas were premised on the Enlightenment principle that there was no such thing as the Divine Right of Kings. But as I write, the Supreme Court MAGA Majority is poised to reinstate the Divine Right of Kings to the presidency. The unspoken, unacknowledged fact, perhaps unable to be seen by the Left’s white males, is that going forward, the King/president will always be male, and he will always be white.
White male supremacy. One mega-MAGA idea to rule them all. It undergirds The MAGA counter-revolution’s Project 25 which is chockful of counterclockwise ideas. They want nothing less than to throw the rest of us back into a pre-1776, pre-Enlightenment state of poverty and servitude with no rights whatsoever. Authoritarianism writ large.
To prevail this time around, we must overcome the gaslighting being done by the narcissistic, powerful, wealthy white men in the Republican party. But even more than that, we must overcome our own reticence to accept the fact that racism is the biggest, on-going threat to the sacred idea that we are all created equal and that no one is above the law.
This means that we must have the courage to see and acknowledge MAGA’s mega-IDEA – that of reinstating white male supremacy – for the true threat that it is to the American, Democratic way of life. #VoteBlue #VoteBidenHarris
Sigh! I am out of words.
The political exhaustion is not only fed by the endless news cycle of prevarication (not to mention idiocy) but by general exhaustion of the inanities of life that seem worse post-pandemic. The inability to talk to a real human being when calling the bank, cable or credit card company. The CVS that tells you that your drug is out of stock. The two hour wait at Urgent Care. Waiting for the bus that never comes. I think that the misguided perceptions about the economy are related to these frustrations, as inchoate as they may be. Polls don't capture the depth exasperation with late capitalism's corporate overlords maximization of profits through menu choices and password changes. These are first world spoiled people problems, I get it. But we expect things to work and too often it is a battle not of our making. Exhaustion also comes from lack of control and feeling that you can't make a difference. Writing 20 letters are weak to swing state voters seems meaningless somedays, just as battling the insurance company seems futile. I appreciate the opportunity for a kind of therapy with the Bulwark.
Yes, I am exhausted by our social and political nonsense right now. I've taken to snarky cross-stitch to fill the time that I used to spend trudging through the quicksand of current news. In two weeks, I will go off-grid in Wyoming for a week. I hope that helps because I must get my head back into the game. There is too much at stake for ennui.
Great piece, JVL
👋 hey! I just had a take too dark for JVL! (Sorry for the non sequitur)
People think it would be bad if Merrick Garland tells Jack Smith to stand down on his cases due to the election. But Imagine by some miracle Merrick Garland actually lets Jack Smith take the Jan 6th case to trial during the fall. And it takes Trump off the campaign trail for a month plus!!! What happens when Trump is out of the public eye? His polls go up. What if the verdict gets handed down the week after the election, is guilty, but he won it fair and square because all people saw that last month was Biden on the stump doing normal things!
I mean…Falcon Heavy here I come!
I don't think it would necessarily play out that way. Sure, Trump would be in a courtroom, but he would still be in the public eye. Every detail of the case will be front page news, all day, every day, and whenever Trump did get out on the campaign trail he'd be releasing tons of pent up rage and craziness. Moreover, with that kind of news cycle everyone in politics and media is going to be re-litigating the details of 1/6, forcing Republicans to defend him and allowing Democrats to spotlight the worst thing Trump has ever done. If, by some miracle, we actually have this trial take place before the election, I think it would be a really heavy hit for Trump.
1. I am so glad this version of social media wasn't a thing when I was a kid
2. I also try not to judge but... Yikes
It's We the People with Joe Biden as our current avatar - kind, smart, good, imperfect - vs Dictator Trump - Kim Jung Un boyfriend, Putin slave boy, idiot planning to take down our country and essentially rule us like Sauron - how is this a difficult choice? Americans have never needed a strongman - we rule ourselves, not always wisely but at least we are a force together. His cult members are lost but do republicans think he will let them have any independent ideas at all? Ask Bob Good, just the latest of the fools... not the first and certainly not the last.
One of the best write ups I’ve read since I subscribed. Bravo, @jonathan
I'm exhausted. And disgusted with the side that should be protecting us and isn't. I'm disgusted with Merrick Garland. I'm disgusted with weak ass Senate Democrats who do nothing. I'm disgusted with the court system. I'm disgusted with judges that are corrupt. I'm disgusted with Americans who are ignorant and stupid and uninterested in learning. I'm disgusted with the mainstream media who doesn't seem to understand the situation we are in. It's dark out there, and I am not optimistic.
ouch
You just nailed it. Thank you for clarifying the “glorious revolution” that is making so many of us literally sick and tired. But the plus side of this folly has been a reawakening of the democratic impulse of millions of Americans. For a healthy democracy to function well, it requires an engaged citizenry. I am working with some great grassroots groups. Like dandelions , they are bright, colorful and everywhere. Unlike the folks you mentioned, these folks take risks, suffer consequences, and get up every morning and do it again. It is exhausting, exhilarating, and just about as far from nihilistic as you’re ever going to get. Seeking joy, patriotism and passion? Join a pro-democracy grassroots campaign.
I'm part of a group that has been canvassing, phone banking, and writing post cards for Democratic campaigns for the last 7 years. I second this comment and I LOVE "Like dandelions, they are bright, colorful, and everywhere."
Try it--activism is not only the antidote to despair, it can also be fun.
You are exactly right and I got that analogy from a wonderful trio of books by pro-democracy peace activist and author, Rivera Sun who wrote The Dandelion Insurrection. These are wonderful books of speculative fiction that seem closer to reality every day. The motto for The Dandelion Insurrection is "Be kind, Be connected, Be unafraid. I just finished a six-week Zoom class with Rivera Sun through the Pace Bene organization entitled "People, Power, & Peace." There are some great case studies out there of people actually stopping wars or starting them from happening in the first place. Sadly, like so many of the grassroots movements today, none of these got much traction in the regular press.
"Unlike normal revolutionaries, the Trumpist revolutionaries risk nothing. If their gambit succeeds, then they overturn the Constitutional order. And if it fails? They go back to their boats, and trucks, and good-paying jobs, and iPhones."
Your article of a few months ago gave me a "eureka moment." You noted how people choose dictators in times of either decadence and desperation, and that this is an example of the former. But using my analogy of drug addiction (& I think it's more than a mere analogy), for hard-core MAGA voters it's both. The more you have, the more you crave. Most don't own $75,000 trucks, and even many who do have "yuge" loans (car, house, college, etc.) and expenses (to support their decadent lifestyle). They have convinced themselves that the "radical left" will be taking their jobs and guns, raising their taxes, etc. Their desperation is real, even if it is all in their paranoid minds. Most may be risking little or nothing if their celebrity idol loses - and in fact most would be better off in the long run - but they BELIEVE they risk losing it all, and that's what counts.
"By 'exhausted,' I don’t mean sick and tired. Or bored. Or annoyed. I mean the kind of weariness that sits down deep, in your bones, because you’re carrying a burden that you long to lay down."
Not me, baby! I'm more fired up than in my half century of voting. Here's the irony: if you weighed all the issues equally, I'd be voting mostly red - though not for Trump; he lost my vote long before I knew here he stood on any issue. But one issue outweighs all the others combined, and ought to for every voter: keeping the Republic (per Franklin's warning). Those who think we're overreacting - I would have just a few years ago - are not paying attention. I read enough from the MAGA propaganda "bubble" and can vouch that they're no longer even trying to pretend that their goal is anything less than destroying the Republic. For all their whining about the "liberal media" they're really saying the same thing, differing only in "spin." So it'll be straight blue in '24. Then, maybe, in '28 I'll be free to vote red again. Though never for anyone who has enabled or protected Trump.
I'm seriously glad someone is. I need a mental break. We are not rerunning one race. We are rerunning two. This all started almost 10 years ago and I'm tired.
On a bad day I think the US was mortally wounded in the '16 GOP primary (I voted for Kasich). But if I give up the determination to stop the MAGA cult, I'd be giving them just what they want. Oh, most of them would eventually regret it, but too late.
The fact that all the old Republicans that knew better seem to have caved in to the cult is so disappointing.
I’m with you 100 percent 🙏
"For you to win, you must always be correct. You must never falter. Never fail. Never slip. Never stumble. Me? I only need to be right once. This is why you lose."
^ pretty good quote explaining why this is so draining. Despite that, it's not why we will lose - but take care of yourself friends. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
Credit to Dr. Octopus for the quote :)